What's It Like to Interview Michelle Obama? High School Senior Nene Sy Fills Us In

Yes, First Lady hang time is the coolest.

When Nene Sy, an 18-year-old honors student at The Young Women's Leadership School of East Harlem, got called to the principal's office, she had no idea why. Was she in trouble? Had something happened?

Her principal, Dr. Althea Bradshaw-Tyson, couldn't tell her the reason, but she did say her life would be changed, and after a phone interview with the board of education, Nene was excused. The next day, the high school senior learned that she had been handpicked to interview Michelle Obama at the White House.

We first heard Nene's story when Teen Vogue's Beauty and Health Director, Elaine Welteroth, visited her school for the Estée Lauder Companies' annual Project Beauty event—we obviously had to get the whole scoop.

"I couldn't believe it!" Nene exclaims. "I was so excited, but also so nervous. I only had a few weeks to come up with questions, and I wanted to be very prepared. The theme of the interview was education—I'm the first one in my family to go to college and so was the First Lady. I could see a lot of myself in her."

After weeks of prepping and practicing, Nene was ready for D.C. She took a break from her studies and volunteer work (she helps 6th graders improve their skills through the Reading Buddies program, meets with professionals in the Step Up Women's Network for career development, and is a part of the Harlem Children Zone's TRUCE program, which helps empower youth through media activism) to meet with the First Lady. She and her dad, a New York City taxi driver, made it to the White House with just one minor hiccup.

"Security smelled a weird chemical on me, but it turned out to be my nail polish!" Nene says with a laugh. "Once we made it past security, we ran into the First Dogs. They were so cute! Then I heard a strange noise and looked out the window: There was President Obama getting on a helicopter."

Next thing she knew, she was hugging Michelle. She says her nerves instantly vanished when she sensed how much the First Lady cared about her questions, and that the most important takeaways from their conversation (which you can watch below!) were to accept failure and to never doubt yourself. These lessons will certainly help her when she attends Gettysburg College as a pre-med student next fall with the goal of becoming a surgeon.

The White House wasn't her last stop though. After her political adventure, Nene was asked to speak on a panel with Barbara Walters for the Women in the World summit in her hometown of NYC last week. She took Michelle's advice to heart and spoke confidently about her experience in front of 3,000 people, including her mom, dad, little brother, and some of her classmates.

"I wanted to make my family and friends proud," she says. "My classmates are my sisterhood. We learn that it's important to help one another at The Young Women's Leadership School—if one of us is falling down, there's always a group of people there to push you up. I took the skills I learn every day at school to help me get through these major moments. If I can do this, I can do anything!"

There is one thing left on her pre-graduation agenda: prom. When we caught up with Nene, she mentioned looking forward to the big dance in June, but not having a dress yet. So obviously we had to help! We called our friends at Jill Stuart and hooked Nene up with a Teen Vogue shopping trip to find her perfect prom look! Now, she's ready to take on the world, and the dance, in style.